


Mysterious Crush

by hoshiletigre



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Comedy, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, and Soonyoung is all over the place, at first, channie is confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoshiletigre/pseuds/hoshiletigre
Summary: Minghao has been seeing someone, noticed Seokmin. It makes Soonyoung and Jihoon so curious they want to investigate, dragging Chan with them.Will they find who Minghao's mysterious crush is?
Relationships: Lee Chan | Dino/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Kudos: 17





	Mysterious Crush

**Author's Note:**

> One day, I woke up and suddenly wanted to write this, so I did. (haha)   
>  Minghao may be a little too OOC(out of character), I'm sorry about that. It was just difficult for me to write his character... ;;
> 
> Anyway, hope you'll enjoy it! （‐＾▽＾‐） (ps: english isn't my main language, sorry if there are mistakes)
> 
> ~~edit: wait... Mysterious Crush... M C... Minghao Chan? ................... LOL. No, that wasn't on purpose. Don't mind me.~~

A phone buzzes and Soonyoung is snatching the snack Chan was holding in his hand. “Hyung–” the latter starts complaining.

Soonyoung grins at him and shoves the snack into his mouth– the audacity this dude’s got in his guts!

“Child,” Jihoon, Soonyoung’s roommate and best friend, comments.

As a response, Soonyoung giggles and waddles away, making Jihoon roll his eyes.

Finally, Chan checks his phone and sees a message from Minghao. ‘ _Are you home?_ ’ it reads. Chan texts back, saying he isn’t. He doesn’t specify where he is but he’s currently at his friends’ flat; he lives on his own. ‘ _Ok, text me when you are._ ’, Minghao replies. Chan sends ‘ok’.

Again, Chan lives _on his own_. Sometimes, it happens– Minghao asks him if he’s home. It’s a little weird when taken out of context, but it’s okay, Chan thinks. He doesn’t mind it, as long as his friend means no harm.

  
  


“Thank you,” Chan smiles as he grabs his bucket of popcorn.

Today, he’s with his friends Soonyoung, Jihoon, Minghao and Seokmin and they’re going to watch a movie. They decide to sit in this order, from their left to their right: Jihoon, Chan, Soonyoung, Seokmin, Minghao. Chan is the only one who has popcorn on his lap, sharing it with Soonyoung.

The movie is about to start when he notices Minghao taking glances at him. Is he interested in eating popcorn as well? “Minghao hyung?” Chan calls him. All his friends look at him and Minghao raises his eyebrows. Chan points at the popcorn. “Do you want some?”

Minghao blinks and nods. “Yes please.”

“Okay,” Chan nods too, then he turns to Jihoon. “Want some too, Jihoon hyung?”

“Yeah. Here, I still have my empty cup,” Jihoon says, holding the cup with both hands so Chan can fill it, which he does. Jihoon has that cup because he was drinking some coke but ran out of it– wait, isn’t it going to taste weird?? Coke flavored popcorn… actually sounds oddly appetizing, but one can only get an answer when the weird food lands on their tongue.

“Alright,” Chan grins when he’s done, then he turns around. “Seokmin hyung, wanna trade our seats?”

Seokmin is confused, looks at Minghao who motions for him to go because he doesn’t mind Chan sitting next to him. “Okay,” he says and gets up. “Here I come, Jihoonie hyung~.” It makes both Jihoon and Chan smile amusedly.

Then Chan plops down next to Minghao and smiles at him. “Hi. Here’s the delivery.” But before any of them can do anything with that, Soonyoung’s digging his hand into the popcorn and grabs a bunch before filling his mouth.

“Mmmmh~! Thanks Channie, that’s very convenient since this is my eat-everything hand,” he says, with a high pitched voice and a mouth still full, referring to his right hand.

“Ew, why are you gross.”

  
  


Another day, he’s back at Soonyoung and Jihoon’s place, along with Minghao’s roommate, Seokmin. And no, Minghao is not with them this time. According to Seokmin, Minghao claimed he had things to do, which is okay, everyone has a life and responsibilities they have to take care of, right? That’s the reason why they don’t get to hang out very often anymore.

“We should totally watch it together!” Soonyoung suggests before shoving chips into his mouth.

“Sorry, watch what?” Chan asks. He wasn’t quite focused on what they were saying, his mind busy thinking about what he forgot because he wanted to tell them something but… he just forgot. Oh well.

“Cardcaptor Sakura,” Jihoon says.

“Epic childhood anime,” Seokmin adds.

“Agreed,” Jihoon agrees as he bumps his fist with Seokmin’s, wide smiles on their faces.

“Oh,” Chan blinks and thinks about it. “Sure. I’ve heard about it plenty of times.” He’s never watched that show and never heard a single bad thing about it so why not? His friends seem super into it so he’ll definitely give it a try.

“Because it’s great!” Soonyoung shows him a thumbs up. “It’s been decided then, Cardcaptor Sakura session someday.” Someday, when all their schedules will let them do that.

“Next we should watch Ojamajo Doremi,” Jihoon says. “Also epic childhood magical girl anime.” Everyone nods at him. Why not.

They chat a little more until Seokmin suddenly becomes serious. Chan stays silent as he watches him; everyone does. “Guys, this may sound weird, but… I think Minghao’s been seeing someone secretly lately.”

Soonyoung gasps dramatically and Jihoon frowns while looking surprised. “What?! Who???” Soonyoung asks.

Seokmin looks around and shrugs. “I don’t know dude! I just noticed how he behaves differently since uh… I don’t know. I just know he’s hiding something. Sometimes, I see him leaving with some packages and coming back without them.”

“Maybe he’s selling stuff,” Chan suggests. Minghao is an artist, that would be very believable. Besides, he is very kind and warmhearted, he could send gifts to people he cares about who live a little too far from them; though that’s not _selling stuff_ anymore.

“True, that could be the case,” Jihoon agrees.

Seokmin blinks and shakes his head. “If he was, he wouldn’t try to dodge my questions when I try to get some answers out of him.”

“Then he’s most definitely seeing someone,” Soonyoung adds, looking sure of himself. “Holy shit, what if he’s seeing someone bad…!??”

“Hum… I don’t think that sounds like him,” Chan says. He’s smart enough not to let himself be drawn to bad people, in Chan’s opinion. At least, he never heard of Minghao being betrayed by someone he trusted before.

“Hm… yeah, I guess you’re right,” Soonyoung replies, sounding defeated.

They stay silent for a few, deep in thoughts. Chan really doesn’t know what to tell them, Minghao is definitely old enough to take care of himself. If he wants to be in a secret relationship without his _nosy_ friends knowing about it, then be it. There’s nothing they can do about that, anyway. He’s not a shady person, they shouldn’t doubt him that bad.

“I have an idea,” Soonyoung speaks up again, confidence radiating from his body.

“What is it?” Seokmin asks, an eyebrow raised.

Soonyoung smiles at him and passes an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “My dude, I’m glad you asked.” He widens his smile and everyone else blinks without saying anything. “Let’s investigate!”

“Seriously?” Chan squints his eyes.

“Yes! Because I’m lowkey dying to know who his crush might be,” Soonyoung repeatedly taps the tip of his pointer fingers against each other with a pout on his lips.

Jihoon looks down and gently rubs his own chin. “I’m… not gonna lie. I’m also interested in knowing who that could be. Like, why does he even try to hide it? Who snatched his heart that hard to make him behave like that??”

Seokmin nods a few times at him. “I wonder too… Yes… I mean– Yes, let’s investigate guys!” The three of them high five each other, grinning like idiots who are about to do things that will only result in them getting grounded.

“Geez, you guys,” Chan rolls his eyes. “Alright, investigate if you want.”

Soonyoung, still grinning, grabs his hand and firmly holds it. “Don’t think you can escape now that you witnessed everything here! This is also your responsibility to help us know who Minghao’s crush is.”

Blinking at him, Chan sighs and shrugs slightly. “Okay, I’ll help you.”

  
  


Chan is on his way home after a long day of work. Now he wants nothing but to collapse on his bed and only wake up when he’ll have a long break. Well… that doesn’t sound very logical… Anyway–

He stops in front of the elevator which appears to be going up… then it stops at his floor. Oh, did he just miss one of his neighbors? Whatever, he pushes the button on the wall and waits for the elevator to come back for him, then he’s going to his floor. When he’s out of there, he walks a bit until he stops when he sees a figure standing in front of his door. That person looks like they want to knock on it.

In all honesty, Chan doesn’t even have to think about it to figure out who it is. He walks towards them, a warm smile displayed on his own lips. “Good evening, hyung.” It takes the other male by surprise, who then turns to look at him, his cheeks pink.

“Oh– good evening, Chan.” He smiles shyly.

“Wanna come in?” Chan asks as he types his code to open the door. He pushes the door open and invites his friend to come in as well.

“S–sure. Thank you.”

Chan closes the door behind him when they’re both inside. He removes his shoes and jacket after placing his bag on the floor. “Sorry for not being here sooner, my manager was beating my ass at work.”

The other looks like he feels sorry for him now. “It’s okay, I just arrived anyway.”

Chan nods. “So, how are you, Minghao hyung? Did you eat yet?”

Minghao chuckles at his words. “That’s exactly what I was going to ask you. Well… I’m okay, same old same.” He gives a nod, then continues, “I didn’t eat yet. What about you?”

“Oh man, I’m exhausted!” Chan covers his mouth with a hand as a yawn comes out of him. “And I didn’t eat yet either. I was thinking I could cook something real quick or finish some leftovers…”

“Don’t bother!” Minghao almost interrupts, and shows the box he was hiding in his shoulder bag. “I–… I cooked some food for you. We could, um…” he trails off.

“Eat together?” Minghao nods. “Yeah, of course. I was going to suggest it, since you’re here tonight. Thanks, hyung.” Chan grins and he takes the box, inspecting it. What’s in there?

Just food both of them like to eat. They prepare the dining table and when they’re about to start eating, Chan’s phone starts vibrating in his pants and it doesn’t stop for a few minutes.

Awkward. Apologetically, Chan bows his head. “Sorry about that. I’ll check what’s happening first, if that’s okay with you.” Minghao smiles at him and lets him have his space so he can take care of his own business. Then Chan opens his notifications and sees a bunch of messages coming from Soonyoung especially, in their ‘Crush investigation’ group chat on KakaoTalk.

> **Seokmin hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Dudes!!!!  
>  ➥ Minghao was cooking and left with the food a while ago!
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ A while ago?  
>  ➥ Why didn’t you tell us right away?!
> 
> **Seokmin hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Sorry man, I’m too tired and forgot this gc existed  
>  ➥ Besides he was feeding me and I got distracted
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Fine whatever  
>  ➥ So  
>  ➥ Hao is planning on having dinner with his crush, according to you????
> 
> **Jihoon hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ That’s what I understand too.  
>  ➥ _(sticker of a webtoon character nodding)_
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Oh wow  
>  ➥ He’s in love  
>  ➥ I mean  
>  ➥ He’s deep down there  
>  ➥ We’re too late  
>  ➥ We can’t save him no more  
>  ➥ _(sticker of a sad bear on its knees)_
> 
> **Jihoon hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ You’re dramatic Soon  
>  ➥ _(sticker of a cute poodle sighing)_
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ I guess I am  
>  ➥ Where’s Channie???
> 
> **Jihoon hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Probably dead as we speak  
>  ➥ _(sticker of a sad white character)_
> 
> **Chan;** **  
> ** ➥ Wtf
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ OMG he’s alive!!
> 
> **Chan;** **  
> ** ➥ I was busy  
>  ➥ I am busy*
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ ok  
>  ➥ Minghao cooked for his crush and he’s probably having dinner with them as we speak right now
> 
> **Chan;** **  
> ** ➥ So what?
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Your thoughts???
> 
> **Chan;** **  
> ** ➥ There’s literally nothing to say
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Boo, you suck
> 
> **Seokmin hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ Gotta agree with him though  
>  ➥ Just wanted to let you know what’s up  
>  ➥ I have things to do guys  
>  ➥ Goodnight! Have lots of dreamy dreams with me ♡~♡ <3  
>  ➥ _(sticker of a polar bear in pajamas sleeping on a cloud)_
> 
> **Chan;** **  
> ** ➥ Yeah, goodnight everyone
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ 😧  
>  ➥ Okay…
> 
> **Jihoon hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ _(sticker of a white character going to bed and saying ‘goodnight’)_
> 
> **Soonyoung hyung;** **  
> ** ➥ _(sticker of a tiger yawning and saying ‘goodnight’)_ Sleep tight my babies!  
>  ➥ _(reply to Jihoon hyung’s message)_ Damn it I lost again!

“Thanks again, hyung. You’re a great cook,” Chan smiles at Minghao, his hand rubbing at his own belly.

Minghao chuckles. “Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.”

Now, it must be obvious that the reason why Chan didn’t really want his friends to ‘investigate’ and find out who Minghao’s mysterious crush is because… it’s him. If they had all the time in the world to follow Minghao wherever he goes, then they would definitely bust both of them and… Chan doesn’t want to imagine how that would go down.

However, what exactly is happening between them? Are they dating?

No, they’re still single; in fact, nobody confessed so far. No, Chan isn’t in love with Minghao. It’s… one sided, which means that Chan must have been playing with his feelings this entire time, but he doesn’t think he did… or does.

It all started more than two months ago already. They don’t see each other like that very often, actually, just… maybe once a week, though sometimes they’re too busy. They’ve known each other for a couple of years now, yet Chan didn’t notice anything sooner. Even when Minghao started spoiling him with these gifts, he didn’t understand why, thinking that maybe his friend was being generous with his friends. It took him over a month to get it… basically not long before Seokmin told Soonyoung and Jihoon about it. Even though he realized it and understands the situation, he never found the courage to reject Minghao. Who in their right mind would want to reject someone as sweet as him anyway??

Chan thought about it, real hard. He has to do it at some point, doesn’t he? Reject him, break his heart… Minghao’s going to find out whether he does it or not, and he’ll be hurt no matter what; he’d just hate Chan a little more if he doesn’t come forward to tell him what he feels for him. Minghao is just a friend. A brother, and a friend…

But then, it’s weird. A part of him doesn’t want to reject him. It wants to keep him close… but that’s very selfish and desperate. Chan is lost. He doesn’t know what to do. It’s not like he can ask his friends for help, because they’ll find out and if he tells them who Minghao’s crush is, then he would be betraying Minghao’s trust. He’s alone, and lost in this confusion…

  
  


Chan’s phone is vibrating in his hands as he’s staring at the screen, then he’s answering Soonyoung’s video call. They decided to do it out of the blue after texting each other just a few minutes ago.

“Aye Channie~,” Soonyoung says, grinning, and takes a closer look at his own screen. “Hey, you’re looking a little fancy. Going on a date?” he asks, smirk visible at the corner of his lips.

Chan chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, I was spending time with my neighbors’ kid and she wanted to experiment on me. Didn’t remove it yet.” She’s cute, and she’s just a young teenager who happens to love makeup and who saw some guys on TV — idols. They’re friends, sometimes he takes care of her when her parents can’t. There was no harm in letting her slap some makeup onto his face. ‘ _You’re very handsome!_ ’ she had said. Chan felt very flattered.

“Aw, that’s adorable!”

“Who are you talking to?” says another voice from Soonyoung’s side. Chan recognizes who it belongs to, then he sees Jihoon standing behind Soonyoung.

“Channie!” Soonyoung smiles widely as he moves his device so Jihoon can see better; Chan can also see Jihoon better now.

The latter looks surprised as he stares at him, then he’s smiling. “Oh, hello Chan. Looking good today.”

“I know riiight,” Soonyoung nods, twice.

Upon hearing their words, Chan feels a little flustered. “Mh, thanks.” Then he clears his throat. They weren’t supposed to talk about his looks. “What did you want to talk about, Soonyoung hyung?”

Soonyoung looks thoughtful, like he forgot what he wanted to talk about. “Um– oh, yeah, right.” He clears his throat. “Got any news?”

Chan lifts an eyebrow. “News?”

Soonyoung nods. “Minghao.”

Chan frowns. “Seriously?”

“Look– I told you. We’re a team, we’re doing this together.”

“You really think I have all the time in the world to spy on him or something? Maybe we should stop being nosy, Minghao hyung is a grown adult, we don’t have to be all toxic to him like that.”

Soonyoung is pouting now. “I… I don’t know. Curiosity is eating me alive… He could be crushing on someone in your building, I don’t know.” He’s not wrong, but Chan won’t tell him.

Suddenly, someone is ringing at his door. “Ah– sorry hyung, it must be one of my neighbors. He borrowed some DVDs the other day but didn’t give them back yet. It should be quick, so– be right back!” He leaves his phone on the table and gets up from the couch. “I’m coming!” he tells the other person on the other side of the door, mentally hoping it’s not Minghao. He’s pretty sure it’s his neighbor though.

Then he’s opening the door, and he freezes on his spot. The man standing before him is definitely not his neighbor.

He smiles awkwardly as he leans against his door, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Oh, hello hyung. How can I help you?”

Minghao smiles back at him, very sweetly — according to Chan —, and looks like he’s hiding something behind him, with both hands. “Hello Chan. What’s up? You look very good today,” he says, surely referring to the makeup he’s sporting today like Soonyoung and Jihoon did earlier.

Chan feels his face heating up at his words. “Th–thanks.”

It makes his friend chuckle a bit, then he shows what he’s been holding the entire time. “Here, I got this for you.” It’s a cute simple cardboard box with a few decorations on it. The size could easily be 15 × 15 × 8 cm.

Chan stares at it, surprised. This is cuter than usual, and it looks even more homemade and cozy than everything else he got from him. With a smile, he takes it and holds it against his chest. “It looks nice. Thank you hyung.”

Minghao grins widely. “No problem. Open it whenever you want.” Chan nods. “I have to go. Bye, Chan.” He bows his head.

“Bye, hyung.” And Minghao is gone.

Chan closes the door then keeps staring at the box and wondering what is inside, half excited to know. He then realizes he forgot about the video call with Soonyoung, and Jihoon as a guest. Oh crap…

He tries to act as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened and settles back on the couch, setting the box next to him, then he grabs his phone again so Soonyoung isn’t facing his ceiling anymore and he tries to not let the box show up on his screen. “I’m back,” he smiles.

On his screen, Soonyoung and Jihoon are staring at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. Soonyoung is the first to turn back to him. “So… your neighbor, huh?”

Jihoon follows. “He sounded just like Minghao.”

Chan panics. There’s no point in hiding now that he fucked up. “I… ugh, okay, fuck. I’ll tell you.” He sighs rather loudly and tells them for how long it’s been happening, how he was super oblivious at first, he doesn’t know what to do, etc.

When he’s done confessing to his friends, he keeps his eyes on the screen and it almost looks like it’s still.jpg as both Soonyoung and Jihoon are frozen and, perhaps, shocked at the revelation. He can’t blame them, nobody suspected him after all.

“Wait,” Jihoon speaks up after what felt like forever, “so _you’re_ Minghao’s crush. You’re the one he’s been seeing secretly.”

Soonyoung gasps, hand frozen in front of his chin. “Channie, are you… are you in love with him?”

The question takes Chan aback, then he replies, a bit too hesitantly to his taste. “No, I’m not.”

He sees Soonyoung raising an eyebrow and scooting much closer to his phone, staring into the front camera though he can’t see anything, aside from the tiny camera. “Are you sure?”

Okay, great, nobody’s convinced. Chan chews his bottom lip as he looks down, then he quickly nods and looks at the other again. “Yeah! I’m sure of myself.”

“One hundred percent sure?” Soonyoung insists.

“Yes!”

“Hmmm.” He squints his eyes as if he could see through his crap from where he stands. It lasts a few seconds until he’s back on his previous spot next to Jihoon. “I don’t believe you, but okay. If you really don’t like him back, then you’ll have to reject him as soon as possible.”

Jihoon wordlessly gives a nod.

Chan sighs as he moves his phone a little further away and his eyes are darting around the room. “Yeah… yeah. I will do it.”

“Alright then.”

He then forces them to promise they won’t spill to Seokmin, or Minghao.

“Channie,” Soonyoung calls him, one last time.

“Yes?”

Soonyoung presses his lips together, and continues, “whatever your decision will be, I’ll respect it. Just– take care of yourself.”

Chan remains silent as they engage into a short staring contest, then he’s nodding. “Okay. Thank you.”

When the call is over, Chan throws his phone on the couch and sighs again, feeling lost in his thoughts yet again. Then he takes the box again, and opens it. Upon seeing its content, he can’t help himself but widen his eyes, a soft gasp leaving his lips as he looks everywhere inside.

The inside matches the outside, it’s cute, it’s peachy, it smells nice and comfortable. Eventually, it smells a little romantic… unless Chan is imagining that, of course. He’s probably gone mad after all this time, perhaps.

Inside, there are small pieces of soft paper everywhere, as if they were cushioning the real content of the box, which are a small pin and a page that looks like it was ripped from a book. They both have something in common, which is self love. The pin says ‘ _Be you, love you. All ways, always._ ’ in a smooth and bold font, which is really nice to look at. The page has a romantic poem printed on top of it, and unrelated content at the back, which has been crossed out with a pen. It’s saying that it’s beautiful to see someone have enough confidence in themself to love and respect their own person, but not only are they very caring of others as a result, they’re very lovable. Whoever wrote it probably meant they felt a bit envious, but seeing someone care about themself like that made them love them as well, and they want to help them survive as long as possible so more people will get to see this person’s colors. … Chan understands, he’s not sure how to put it into words, but he gets it.

Minghao put himself into the writer’s shoes, and the other person, the mentioned one, is Chan.

Basically,

this is Minghao’s declaration, right here. Thus, someone confessed.

And Chan has to make a decision. Fast.

How does he feel after seeing everything here? He feels… loved. Really, he always felt it. And now that he really thinks about it without trying to lie to himself… he always enjoyed it.

Whether they were with their friends or not, Chan always paid attention to Minghao and made sure he wasn’t feeling lonely, or just bad in general.

Therefore… it’s obvious. Always was.

A smile stretches at his lips as his thoughts get invaded by Minghao.

He really had to get busted like that to realize the truth huh. What an idiot he is.

  
  
  


It’s been days since that time. Chan is holding his phone close to his ear as he nervously waits for his call to go through.

When the person on the other side finally picks it up, he holds his breath, as if he was trying to hide himself. “H–hello?” they say.

“Minghao hyung… hello,” Chan replies.

“Chan, is something the matter?” Minghao asks. He sounds a bit worried, maybe because Chan very rarely calls him like that.

“No,” the younger male quickly says, but then he’s shaking his head though the other can’t see him, and he immediately corrects himself. “I mean, yes. Can we see each other?”

“Oh.” Minghao sounds a bit hesitant now. “Sure. Um, I have a day off tomorrow, if that’s okay with you.”

Tomorrow? Chan doesn’t start work until pretty late in the afternoon so they can meet up during the morning. “Okay for tomorrow.”

They do see each other the next day during the morning. They’re both a bit shy at first and decide to have lunch together at some restaurant owned by Seokmin’s sister. They don’t mention the box nor the ‘problem’ Chan said he had, though. In fact, Minghao never asks him if he liked his gifts afterwards, so that makes sense in a way but that particular box was so much different than everything else he gave him. It drives Chan a little crazy if he’s being honest, but he tries to keep his composure as best as he can.

Lunch is over and the duo heads for the beach, since they don’t live that far from it. The weather is not perfect as it’s a bit chilly and Chan wouldn’t walk around half naked right now, but it’s not raining, the wind isn’t too strong, so it’s still fine. It doesn’t bother them, at least.

Currently, they’re just walking without saying anything, keeping their hands to themselves and keeping a good distance between them, as two friends. It’s peaceful, the view around them is nice, but secretly, Chan is feeling the urge to bring up the box into a conversation with Minghao, so he starts talking again. “Hyung?”

Minghao turns to look at him, curiosity visible on his entire face even though he’s smiling. “Hm?”

Chan’s not brave enough to look him in the eyes. “I…” he trails off, thinking hard about what he’s going to say. Should he talk about the box first? Or should he confess, then talk about the box? Which order is more appropriate? Maybe he should try something else, like saying everything in the same sentence. Ugh, what to do?

But he takes too much time to continue what he was saying, so Minghao stops his steps and Chan does too. They’re a little further away from each other than they were earlier, yet none of them moves closer to the other, and Minghao is still smiling. Well, now Chan’s looking back at him. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me now. Take your time.”

It may not sound like a lot, but it _is_ a lot. Chan can feel Minghao through his words and the tone of his voice; it soothes his heart.

He has to tell him everything now before he loses his will to say anything to him.

“Hyung,” he says again. Minghao doesn’t reply this time. “I like you.” But that’s all Chan manages to say for now. His throat feels dry and his cheeks are on fire. It’s very tedious, but he keeps his eyes on Minghao’s face and tries not to look away from him; he wants to see every reaction the other male has to show him.

From his point of view, he sees that Minghao looks surprised, but he must be having multiple feelings at the same time within him, which could be: surprised, happy, and perhaps shocked. His smile was gone, his eyes wider than usual, but then he’s smiling even more than he was previously, his eyes looking almost closed. Despite that, Chan can see how much they’re shining from where he’s standing. “I… I’m… I like you too, Chan. I thought… maybe… maybe I was just seeing things so if you couldn’t return the feelings and if you were just a friend I could take care of for a very long time, that would be more than enough for me. That’s… that’s how much I care about you.” When he’s done talking, he’s just as red as Chan is.

“R–Really? I mean… At first, I didn’t even know why you were being so sweet to me. It took me so long to understand, and even longer to realize how I really felt for you…” Chan looks away. He can’t look at him anymore because he feels like his head is going to melt if he doesn’t look at something else. He continues before Minghao gets the chance to speak again, “By the way, thanks so much for everything you gave me, I liked them all a lot. Still do, actually.”

Even though Chan is not directly looking at Minghao’s face, he can see how flustered he is; he didn’t think that was possible, frankly. “I’m… I’m so happy, Chan. Thank you for your very kind words, I always put my soul into them. For you.”

Chan almost gasps at his words. It’s almost like time stopped around them, like they’re the only ones still moving and breathing here. He’s not quite sure what is going on, but his tummy feels a little funny right now. What do they call that? _Butterflies_? It’s tingly, strange, but feels so nice… It’s real. Chan’s feelings are real. He’s not tripping.

He was so lost into his thoughts that he didn’t realize that Minghao started walking towards him, his lips stretched into a beautiful smile. He’s so cute and aesthetic Chan wants to jump into his arms, and that’s more or less what he actually ends up doing. When he’s close enough, he passes his arms around Minghao’s neck and slightly gets on the tip of his feet as Minghao leans down, his own arms around Chan’s waist, until their lips meet into a kiss.


End file.
